


Years Apart

by Raveniires



Category: Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, Justice League (2017), Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: Canon-Typical Violence, Fluff and Angst, M/M, Telepathy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-01
Updated: 2018-07-01
Packaged: 2019-05-31 10:14:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 5,599
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15117257
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Raveniires/pseuds/Raveniires
Summary: In which Kara has to deal with a shipment of the Joker’s laughing gas, as well as Bruce ‘I like to get into bar fights’ Wayne invading the DEO, and Cat acting bizarrely blasé about Batman showing up in National City. Also-Hold up, wait, is Bruce Wayne flirting with J’onn? What in the hell is going on here?





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Just to be clear, this is Ben Affleck's Bruce Wayne.  
> No beta, and I'm not going to fix any mistakes, it is what it is.

Kara walked beside her sister into the DEO building, towards the central area. It had been a slow morning and she was itching for something exciting to happen.

“That’s not...” Alex trailed off, walking a little faster towards the man who was sitting on the edge of the desk, watching the monitors. She stopped and turned around, taking carefully not-running steps back towards Kara. “That’s Bruce Wayne.” She hissed.

“The billionaire?” Kara asked, keeping her voice as quiet as her sister’s.

“It is definitely him,” Winn confirmed, edging close to their huddle. “He’s been there since before I got here today.”

“What is he doing here?” Alex asked, looking back towards him.

“He’s here because he’s been supplying the DEO for the last year.”

The three of them jumped back and apart at J’onn’s voice.

“Now if you’re done gossiping, you all have jobs to do.” He glared at all three of them.

“Right!” Winn dodged back and hopped into his chair. “Okay, so I have scanned all over the city in every way I can think of, and there is nothing.”

“No trace?” Bruce Wayne asked.

“None. If it’s here, we can’t detect it,” Winn confirmed.

Kara looked between the two of them, then to the monitors. She couldn’t glean anything from them. “If what’s here?”

J’onn crossed his arms, leaning his hip against the desk Bruce was sitting on. “We have intel that suggests that the Joker has smuggled his laughing gas into the city. As of yet, we haven’t been able to find it.”

“The Joker?” Kara asked. “The crazy clown from Gotham?”

“But he’s human isn’t he?” Alex asked.

“God, I hope so,” J’onn muttered.

“Just because he’s human, doesn’t mean he’s not dangerous,” Bruce added.

“But it does mean that this is not DEO business,” Alex finished.

“Normally that would be true,” J’onn said. “But this is a special circumstance.”

“How?”

Bruce held up a hand, shifting to look back at them. “That would be my fault. I owe a guy, and he made me call in a favor here.”

“But why are you _here_?” Alex asked, shifting into her interrogation voice. “Isn’t this police business?”

“When Batman tells you to go to the DEO to find the Joker’s laughing gas in Central City, you listen.”

Kara laughed, she couldn’t help it. “Batman? You mean that caped vigilante that runs around Gotham?”

Bruce turned back to the monitors, giving a shrug with one shoulder. “Whatever you think of him, he’s saved my life at least a dozen times. I owe him.”

“Back to the matter at hand,” J’onn said. “If the Joker really did get his laughing gas into the city, then it’s only a matter of time before people start dying. Agent Schott, do you have _any_ leads?”

Winn shook his head. “Not yet.”

“Then start checking for irregularities in shipments. Supergirl, do a flyover of the city in case you can spot it. Mr. Wayne, get off of the desk and go do something useful.”

Kara noticed a nearly imperceptible flinch when J’onn said his name.

“I am being useful,” Bruce argued.

J’onn made that face that he did when Kara and Alex were arguing with him. “Micromanaging my agents is not being useful. Find something else.”

“And what are you going to do?”

“I have an agency to run, if you haven’t noticed.” J’onn walked away, and Bruce gave a heavy sigh.

Kara glanced back and forth between the two of them, then shook her head and took off to check on the city.

 

* * *

 

Kara landed on the roof of CatCo and straightened her clothes. There had been no sign of any chemicals, and even the ordinary criminals were notably absent. She went down to her desk outside of Cat’s office, and she got to work. She was in the middle of a friendly argument with Clark about whether or not pangolins were cuter than hedgehogs. They were. Clark was wrong. As she was writing an exceedingly clever comeback, out of her peripheral vision she saw someone just strolling on into Cat’s office.

Kara jumped up and rushed to stop him, but it was already too late.

Cat looked up and quirked an eyebrow. “Bruce Wayne. How are you still alive?” She asked, leaning forward over her desk.

Bruce grinned. “Dumb luck, mostly. Alfred always tells me that I’m too stubborn to die.”

“I’ll be sure to include that in your obituary after you finally die from one of your skiing accidents.”

Bruce laughed.

Cat gestured at Kara. “Kira, go get a coffee for Bruce. Black, like his soul.”

Kara nodded. “Right away Ms. Grant.” She hurried out of the office, but hid just out of sight and listened in.

“So what brings you to National City, Wayne?” Cat asked. He tone was unusually friendly.

“Gotham business.”

“Is this the sort of business that I should be warning the public about?”

“Not yet. If we’re lucky, then not ever. But you’re the first person I’ll tell if this goes south.”

Cat hummed. “And you came here just for a visit?”

“You sound so suspicious, Cat.” Bruce sounded like he was exaggerating hurt.

“I’m not easily fooled, Bruce. You know that.”

“Yes I do. I need some relationship advice.”

Kara’s phone buzzed. It was Alex. She picked it up. “Hello?”

“We’ve got a lead.”

“I’ll be right there.”

 

* * *

 

Kara hurried to the big monitor. "What have we got?"

Winn leaned back in his chair. "This guy."

A file on a man popped up on the screen. It looked like a prolific criminal record.

"Evan Tavis. He's been acting erratic in the last few days, and I think he could be the key."

"So let's go get him."

Winn grimaced and held up a finger. "That is going to be a problem. We have no idea where he is. Dropped off the grid entirely a– hold on, what's going on?" He typed away at the computer. A couple of files popped onscreen– known associates and things like that.

"Winn?" Kara asked.

"I think we've got a bit of a problem." Winn typed more aggressively. "We may have been hacked. I don't know how though."

J'onn walked over and picked up a keyboard. He typed into the open file: <<Wayne, get out of this database.>>

A few seconds passed, and there was a reply. <<Make me ;)>>

J'onn narrowed his eyes. He walked over to the desk Bruce had been sitting on that morning. He reached under it, and Kara heard a distinct cracking sound. All the new files closed.

"As you were saying, Agent Schott?"

Winn nodded. "Right. Our problem is that he went off the radar a few hours ago. No trace."

"Anything else?" J'onn asked.

Winn shook his head. "This is the best I have."

"Then we'll start looking."

Kara turned her head, listening. "Bank robbery. I'll try to find this guy as soon as I can." She took off, heading to stop the robbers.


	2. Chapter 2

The day passed without much more progress in finding Tavis. Kara hung in the air above the city, staring down at the lights and listening. As unlikely as it was that she would find him like this, she still–

A man shrieked in fear.

Kara zoomed down towards the sound. She landed on a rooftop, near two men. One was being held over the edge of the building by the neck, and the other one....

He had to be Batman. Between the cape and the helmet with the stupid ears, and the bat emblem on his chest too, it would have been hard not to recognize him.

"Put him down." Kara said.

"Exactly like her cousin," Batman grumbled lowly. His voice was strange, almost sounding like it was being computer altered.

"Now." She demanded.

He pointed at her accusingly. "You won't get the information out of him. Not in time." He turned back to the man he was holding. "Tell me."

The man- now that Kara looked at him, she was pretty sure that it was Tavis- laughed. "Even if you drop me, I'll be fine!"

He wheezed then, grabbing at Batman's arm more desperately.

"Don't count on it." Batman growled.

Tavis gave Kara a desperate look. She squared her shoulders. This wasn't Gotham.

She tramped forward and yanked both of them away from the edge, pulling them apart at the same time. "Enough."

Batman slipped out of her grip. "Don't get in my way."

“This is not how it works in my city.”

“You’ve never dealt with the Joker.” Batman squared his shoulders, looking ready for a fight. It wasn’t one that was going to last long, that was for sure.

“Both of you are coming with me.” Kara said. Tavis nodded eagerly, looking desperate to be away from Batman.

“That’s not happening.”

Kara felt her frustration with the man mounting. Batman stepped towards Tavis again, and Kara shoved him away, harder than she meant to.

Batman collided against the wall with a grunt. His eyes narrowed and his hand went to his belt. He tossed a boomerang at her.

Kara caught it, raising an eyebrow at the bat shape. “What’s this supposed to do?”

It exploded in her hand.

In the few moments that she was caught off-guard, Batman kicked Tavis off the roof. Kara gave him a shocked look and dove after Tavis. She caught him easily, but by the time she got back to the roof, Batman was entirely gone. No trace of him left.

Kara huffed and headed to the DEO. “Do you want to tell me why he was threatening you?”

Tavis shook his head. “Not until you promise me that I’ll be safe.”

“Oh, you’ll be safe where I’m taking you.” Kara landed in the DEO building and handed Tavis over to some agents.

Alex walked over. “Good job. How’d you find him?”

Kara crossed her arms. “You won’t believe who’s in town.”

Alex made a face. “Oh no.”

Kara nodded. “Batman. He tossed our witness off the roof.”

“He does that,” J’onn called out from where he was staring at a map of the city.

Kara and Alex walked over.

“How do you know that?” Alex asked.

“I worked with him on a few occasions. Both as J’onn J’onzz and Hank Henshaw. He doesn’t work well with others.”

“I noticed.” Kara grumbled.

“Get some rest, both of you,” J’onn said. “I’ll question our suspect, and I’ll call you when we have more information.”

“Are you sure you’ll be okay alone here?” Alex asked.

J’onn nodded, gaze still locked on the map.

Alex gave Kara a worried look. Kara shrugged in response, heading to the front of the building. Alex followed her after a glance back at J’onn, and the two of them went home.

 

* * *

 

As soon as the girls were gone, J’onn sighed deeply. He should have known that Bruce would come to National City as soon as he had the slightest excuse. After everything….

J’onn shook his head. He had a job to do. He went down to the cells to interrogate Tavis. The man was uncooperative, to say the least. On top of that, Tavis had gone through some kind of mental training. He almost wished that Kara had let Batman finish with the man so that they would have their information already. He would let Alex try first thing in the morning, and if that didn’t work he would use a more invasive method to read the man’s mind.

The hours stretched on into the early morning. For all the technology that the DEO was equipped with, there was disturbingly few leads, all of which had been exhaustively followed into dead ends, except for Tavis.

There was a thud behind him, and J’onn turned to find Bruce stumbling forward, holding an arm around his middle. The man gave him a pained grin. “Skiing accident.”

J’onn held back a sigh as he rushed forward to catch Bruce before he collapsed. He pulled Bruce’s arm across his shoulder, and walked him to the med-bay.

Bruce sat on the bed while J’onn gathered supplies. He heard a hiss of pain, and he looked back to see Bruce pulling his shirt off over his head, revealing a long, jagged cut across his side.

“What did you do this time?” J’onn asked.

“It turns out that criminals don’t respect you in this town unless you’re in red and blue tights.”

“A street thug did this?” J’onn gave Bruce an incredulous look.

“It _was_ a gang of at least twelve.”

J’onn sighed deeply. Of course it was.

He walked over and set the supplies next to Bruce. The cut would definitely need stitches. He started to work on cleaning the wound.

Bruce was mostly quiet about it, he always was, despite how much it hurt. J’onn suspected that he had worked hard at getting quiet when treated so that Alfred wouldn’t feel bad about it.

“Were you here the entire time?” Bruce asked quietly.

“Yes.” J’onn’s gaze flitted over the scars that littered Bruce’s body. There were too many unfamiliar ones. Ten years worth of fights that J’onn knew little of. “I tried to contact you. Something always came up.”

“That seems to happen to us.” Bruce hissed as the needle pierced his skin. “So what have you been up to?”

J’onn had expected blame. He had expected to be yelled at. He didn’t know what to do with this. He hadn’t thought that Bruce would be so calm. In a way, it actually stung. Still, he gave an abridged version of what had happened to him since they had last seen each other. By the time he had finished, he had moved on to Bruce’s more minor injuries.

“Adopted a couple kids.” Bruce gave a huff of a laugh. “Nice to know I rubbed off on you.”

J’onn smiled as he cleaned a minor cut on the side of Bruce’s jaw. “You should get some rest.” He helped Bruce put his shirt back on. He brushed Bruce’s hair out of his face, lingering for a moment, before he pulled away and headed back to the main room.


	3. Chapter 3

Kara followed Alex to the cells. She wasn’t going to interfere, or show herself at all, but she wanted to see how it went down. Alex stood in front of Tavis's cell, arms crossed. "Supergirl kept her side of the deal. You'll be perfectly safe in here. It's your turn now. Tell us where the Joker's laughing gas is."

Tavis shrugged, making a face like he was he one who was in control. "Tell ya the truth? I don't know."

"Alright." Alex turned around, heading to the door. "I guess that means you're free to go. We'll let you out immediately."

"WAIT! NO! WAIT! I know where it is!"

Alex looked back. "Talk."

 

* * *

 

Winn pointed to the map on the screen. "Right there. The address he gave us is that warehouse at the city outskirts."

Kara nodded. "That wasn't so bad. Why does Gotham have so much trouble with this guy?"

"It's not there." Bruce interrupted, walking into the room stiffly.

"What happened to you?" Alex asked.

Bruce waved her off. "Bar fight. Your man's wrong. It's not going to be there."

"How do you know that?" Kara asked. "Tavis wouldn't have lied. He knows we won't protect him if he does."

Bruce grabbed a tablet and zoomed out on the map. "Look how far away from the city it is. It's not there. It wouldn't do any damage out there."

"We can't just ignore this tip." Alex pointed out. "Supergirl, in case it is a trap, J'onn should go with you."

Bruce sat a little straighter, looking back at them with concern. "What could really be out there that she can't handle herself? The Joker doesn't have Kryptonite." He glanced back and forth between Kara and Alex.

He seemed to be a lot more concerned about J'onn going than made sense. Alex shrugged. "Still. Safety in numbers."

Kara nodded, and Alex looked over her shoulder at J'onn who was walking in. "Right J'onn?"

"With him especially."

"But-" Bruce started.

J'onn cut him off. "This isn't up for discussion. Supergirl."

Kara walked after him, the two of them taking off.

Alex nodded to herself as she faced the screen again. "Winn, let's get eyes on that building."

She decided to ignore the distress on Bruce's face. At least for now. She had a job to do.

 

* * *

 

Kara landed outside of the warehouse. She squinted, trying to see inside. Lead walls. She shook her head and opened the door carefully.

Nothing exploded, and she took that as a win. She walked inside, with J'onn right behind her. There was so much lead. It was almost like someone slathered the walls with it intentionally.

Kara rounded a corner and spotted a group of people who were tied to chairs.

"Supergirl!" One called out.

All the others looked up and started talking excitedly.

Kara held up her hands. "Are you okay? What happened?"

One of the men shook his head. "We were just working and then everything went black. I woke up like this."

"And there's a bomb up there." Someone else said.

Kara looked up at where the woman gestured. Precariously hanging from a rope was, indeed, a bomb. It was counting down from five minutes.

"Oh boy." Kara hurried to the nearest hostage and used her heat vision to cut the ropes tying him to the chair. She and J'onn freed them as quickly as possible, and one by one the hostages ran out of the building.

The last woman she freed had a busted leg, so Kara scooped her up. "J'onn?"

He was standing in front of the bomb, glaring at it intensely. "Go, get them to safety. I will deal with this."

Kara nodded and ran outside, herding the people to a safe distance. She turned and took a step forward.

The warehouse exploded with a deafening roar. Instinctively, she shielded the people with her cape. "J'onn?"

"J'onn!"

Kara whipped her head around to stare at Bruce, who was standing only a few feet behind her. "You need to get back to the DEO."

Bruce ran forward, straight for the rubble. "J'onn!"

Kara rushed forward and caught him, holding him back. "It's not safe!"

"I need to know he's okay!" Bruce struggled against her.

Kara listened, sifting through the sounds of the city, searching for a specific heartbeat. There wasn't any apart from those of the people and hers, and Bruce's rapid one. She shook her head. "I'm sorry. He's gone."

"No he isn't! I'm not going to lose him again! Not to the Joker!" Bruce stepped back, shaking his head.

Kara let go of him, since he wasn't trying to go to the rubble anymore. "There's no heartbeat."

Bruce shook his head again. He sidestepped out of her reach and darted forward, climbing up the rubble the second he reached it. "He doesn't have a heartbeat!"

Kara flew after him, hovering above the rubble. "What do you mean?"

"Martians don't have heartbeats!" Bruce grabbed a slab of concrete and tossed it aside. "He fakes it to make people more comfortable. Martians work more like jellyfish."

Kara stared at Bruce as he continued to babble as he dug. How did he know all this about Martians? She dropped down and started pulling up handfuls of rubble. From her estimate, Bruce was digging at roughly the same place as where Kara had last seen J'onn.

She grabbed the edge of a large slab and pulled it up. Without even the slightest hesitation, Bruce hopped into the hole that she had uncovered. Kara tossed the slab in a safe direction and dropped down into the hole.

Bruce was crouched next to J'onn, who was lying unconscious and half buried under the rubble. "He's alive."

"How can you tell?" Kara asked as she examined their treacherous surroundings. It looked like getting J'onn out was going to collapse what was left of the warehouse.

"It's hard to explain." Bruce pointed to a half a wall. "Lift that on my mark."

Kara was skeptical, but she grabbed it and looked over to Bruce. "I'm ready."

Bruce half lifted J'onn, wrapping his arms around J'onn's chest. He nodded. "Go."

Kara lifted it, and Bruce dragged J'onn out, stumbling back.

Kara carefully placed the wall back down, then grabbed Bruce and J'onn and flew out of the warehouse. There was a bunch of police cars pulling up, so Kara headed straight back to the DEO.


	4. Chapter 4

Alex stood outside of the infirmary staring in through the windows.

Bruce was sitting next to J’onn’s bed, holding his hand. The man looked exhausted. His eyes were barely open, but he still sat there, keeping vigil.

Kara’s explanation of what had happened only brought up more questions. Questions that Bruce refused to answer. His insistence that J’onn was alive was even more bewildering, given that it defied everything that their technology was telling them.

Winn walked over. He hesitated for moment, looking into the room. “Our team just got back. There’s no trace of the toxin.”

“Bruce was right. Tavis lied to us.” Alex turned away from the infirmary and started walking.

“Alex?” Winn asked.

“Keep looking. We need to find this stuff.” She walked down to the cells. “Tavis.”

The man stood. “What bring you back?”

Alex pressed the button to open the cell.

His face filled with fear instantly. “What are you doing?”

“Your time here is over.” She grabbed him by the arm and dragged him out.

He struggled and pleaded, but Alex took him to the front door and kicked him out.

“Please!” He begged, “Batman will kill me!”

Alex slammed the door in his face and headed to the main room. Winn and Kara were talking to James. He was holding a messily drawn card.

“What’s going on?” Alex asked.

James handed the card over to her, shaking his head. “I found this on my desk.”

It had a crudely drawn clown on the front, and all it said on the inside was, “Smile.”

Alex frowned. “Did you see anyone deliver it?”

James shook his head. “Apparently it was mixed in our regular mail.”

Alex walked back towards the infirmary.

“Where are you going?” Kara asked.

“Bruce was right about the warehouse. Maybe he’ll have insight into this.”

Kara followed behind Alex. They walked into the infirmary. Bruce looked up at them.

Alex handed him the card. “Do you have any idea what this means?”

Bruce’s expression darkened further as he looked at it. “Who got this?”

“James Olsen. It was delivered to his office desk.”

Bruce’s eyes widened. “CatCo.”

Alex bit her tongue, and she heard Kara gasp. “Do you really think?”

“It’s at CatCo.” Bruce gave the card back to her and fisted his hands in his hair. “Why didn’t I see that?”

“We’ve got this,” Alex reassured him. She spun on her heel and she and Kara headed back to the main room. “I’ll get a team ready, you get there as fast as you can.”

“Be careful, Alex.” Kara warned.

“You too,” Alex said as Kara took off.

 

* * *

 

Kara landed on the balcony of CatCo and hurried inside. “Ms. Grant?”

Cat gave her a frustrated look and held up her cell phone. On it was a text that said, <<Evacuate the building, I’ll explain later.>>

“I’m guessing that you have the explanation, Supergirl.”

“We think the Joker’s laughing gas is in the building.” Kara shook her head. “What are you still doing up here?”

Cat tapped her phone against her chin. “That explains the canisters.” She turned a monitor to face Kara. On it was a grainy security video of what looked like a supply closet. Shoved in a corner was a group of three unmarked canisters.

“Where is that?” Kara asked.

“This one is on the fifth floor, but there are six others.”

Kara took a deep breath. “Okay. I’ve got this, get somewhere safe, Ms. Grant.”

"As if it's my dream to stay here." Cat grumbled.

Kara ran off, heading towards the canister. She squinted down, looking through the floors. Every so often, there were spots that she couldn't see though anymore, and she suspected lead. Whoever decided to hide the canisters with lead wasn't very smart, even if they were trying to keep her from finding them.

She got to the nearest lead covered point. It was covering all over the inside of a supply closet, but there wasn't any sign of the canisters. She looked around again. There were dozens of lead covered areas. "Oh no." She pressed her hand to her ear. "Winn? Can you hear me?"

<<Loud and clear. What do you need?>>

"Get into CatCo's cameras and tell me where you see canisters."

<<Oh boy.>> Winn made a grumbling noise. <<I'm guessing that it's going well then.>>

"Yep," Kara muttered, equally sarcastically. She ran down to the fifth floor and grabbed the canister, then headed up to the roof.

Alex was waiting there with a helicopter. She pointed to a box in the back of the chopper. "Load them there, the seal should keep it if they open."

Kara nodded and laid the canister inside carefully. "Where's Ms. Grant?"

Alex pointed to an adjacent rooftop where Cat was pacing and yelling into her phone. "You'll never guess who took her there."

"Batman?"

"Batman."

Kara nodded. "I'll keep an eye out."

She hurried back in, heading towards the next one that Winn found. As she worked to get them out, Winn told her which ones Batman was taking care of, and the before long, the building was clear.

Kara loaded the last one into the back of the chopper, and it headed off.

Batman held out a vial. "I developed a neutralizer for the gas. You may need to fabricate more, but this will take care of it."

Alex took the vial. "I'll get our agents working on it."

Kara crossed her arms. "Don't you only come out at night?"

"Did your cousin tell you that?" Batman asked. He shook his head and walked to the other side of the roof.

"Hey!" Kara called out.

He paused, turning his head back slightly.

"Thanks for the help."

Batman gave the slightest nod, then shot a grapple onto a nearby building and swung away.

"I still don't like him." Kara said.

Alex shrugged. "Me neither."

The two of them worked on guiding the cleanup crews.


	5. Chapter 5

Bruce closed his eyes and rested his head on his crossed arms. He still held J'onn's hand, and he hoped that his time away hadn't been noticed. He had made sure to be seen talking to Cat during the aftermath, and she would cover for him, but this was an unusually dangerous game. He sighed deeply and slumped further over the bed. Everything hurt, and he felt more isolated than ever. He trying, though. God damn it he was trying. He squeezed J'onn's hand.

"If you're dead for real this time, I swear I will shoot your body into the sun so that I can't get my hopes up again," Bruce mumbled.

"That would complicate this."

Bruce lifted his head. "J'onn?"

J'onn blinked, then turned his head and gave Bruce a weak smile.

Bruce let out a relieved breath. "J'onn." He sat forward, laying his free hand on J'onn's cheek. "You really scared me." He leaned in and gave J'onn a gentle kiss, resting his forehead against J'onn's.

J'onn ran a hand through Bruce's hair. "You were right."

"I know how the Joker works."

J'onn shook his head. "About Henshaw. I thought I could talk him down. I was so tired of hiding, but I still ended up doing that."

Bruce squeezed his eyes shut, bumping his nose against J'onn's. He didn't want to cry. He had told himself he wouldn't. "I missed you so much," he choked out.

J'onn scooted back and pulled Bruce onto the bed with him to give him a proper hug.

Despite everything that was telling him that he should be the one taking care of J'onn, that J'onn was the one who was hurt, Bruce couldn't help but cling to him.

"I missed you too," J'onn whispered.

Bruce nodded, burying his face against J'onn's neck. He tapped J'onn's chest. "Heartbeat. It'd reassure your kids that I'm not lying to them."

Against his lips he felt a steady beat thrum through J'onn's neck. He would have been lying if he said it didn't help put him at ease too.

"The laughing gas?" J'onn asked.

"Dealt with. It was in CatCo." Bruce nuzzled closer, relaxing for what felt like the first time in years. "Cat's pissed, but she told me while I was there that she's glad I let her know."

J'onn nodded and kissed the top of Bruce's head. "Do you-" he stopped.

Bruce pulled away to look at him. "What?" he asked softly. A part of him- a very large part of him- was hoping that J'onn wanted to be with him again. The rest of him was terrified that this was the rejection he had been expecting since he and J'onn had first gotten together.

"Do you want to bond again?" J'onn asked quietly.

Bruce nodded. "Yes. I want you, J'onn. I want to be with you." He leaned forward, and J'onn met him in a soft kiss.

 

* * *

 

Kara sighed and leaned forward over a desk. After how hectic yesterday had been, all she wanted was a bank robbery or something else simple to do, but the entire city seemed to be crime free.

"Have you seen J'onn?" Alex asked.

Kara shook her head. After he had recovered the day before, J'onn had left saying that he was taking the day off. She had watched him and Bruce get into a car and drive off. If she were a little more nosy maybe she would have followed to see where they were going, but all she did was watch them until they were out of even her sight. "Not since yesterday."

Alex made a grumpy sound. "It's not like him to be late to work."

“It’s not like Bruce could have kidnapped him.”

Alex was silent.

Kara looked back at her and raised an eyebrow. “There is no way that he-”

Alex waved her off. “I know that.” She huffed. “It’s just, what do you think is going on between them?”

Kara thought back to when the bomb had gone off. “I don’t know. Maybe… do you think they’re into each other?”

“So you think so too.”

Kara nodded.

“How could you not?” Winn asked. “They’ve been basically making goo goo eyes at each other the entire time.”

Confused, Kara glanced over at Alex who looked as perplexed as she felt. “What are you talking about?”

“It looked more like they were fighting to me,” Alex added.

Winn made a face. “Did you not see them holding hands yesterday?”

Kara shook her head. “When?”

“When they were coming here from the infirmary. I’m pretty sure they were making out just before I saw them, but,” Winn shook his head, “I can’t be sure because the tapes were wiped.”

“How much of the security footage is missing?” Alex asked.

Winn brought up something on his computer. “Most of the last two days, but only in places where they’re alone together.”

“We could ask him,” Kara suggested.

“Ask him what?” Alex asked waving her arms. “Are you boning Bruce Wayne?”

“Not in the last ten years.” Came J’onn’s voice.

Alex gave Kara a mortified look and the two of them turned around to face him.

J’onn had his arms crossed, but there was a hint of amusement on his face. “I’m gone for one night, and this department has nothing better to discuss than my love life?”

“Alex started it!” Winn said. “I’m just an innocent bystander!”

“But are you and him?” Kara started.

J’onn raised an eyebrow.

“Involved? In some way?” She finished with a shrug.

J’onn shook his head and chuckled. “Yes. We had a word for it, but there is no direct translation from Martian.”

“Is there an indirect translation?” Alex asked.

“The closest thing would be ‘soulmate’. It’s incomplete, but the idea is similar.”

“So where is he?” Kara asked.

“On a flight back to Gotham. He has a job to do there, much like you all have jobs to do here.” J’onn explained, giving them looks.

Alex and Winn went off back to their own stations. Kara stayed. “You’re not bothered? It’s been ten years, right? Don’t you want to see him again?”

J’onn gave her a somewhat smug look. “I’m psychic, remember? Bruce and I don’t need to be physically close to be with one another.”

Kara made a face. “You don’t spy on any of us, do you?”

J’onn looked disgruntled. “I try my best not to listen to any of you. Believe it or not, I am not interested in hearing about how much Cat Grant irritated you this morning.”

Kara looked away. “She wouldn’t stop talking about how angry she was at Bruce for not warning her. And she kept giving me dirty looks.” She glanced over at J’onn, but he didn’t look like he was listening to her. He was looking down at his phone and smiling. She leaned back just enough to peek at it. The was a picture of a much younger looking Bruce and J’onn in his Martian form. They were laughing together.

Kara smiled and walked off. What a strange little family she had found for herself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bonus, if Bruce had just had the balls to confront J'onn:
> 
> Kara laughed at a joke Alex made, turning enough to see Bruce Wayne storm into the DEO building.  
> “You’re alive?” he yelled at J’onn.  
> J’onn’s eyes widened. “Bruce? What are you doing here?”  
> “We have ten years to make up for, and it’s starting right here, right now.” Bruce walked up to J’onn and pulled him into a kiss. The two of them started making out aggressively and Bruce ended up backed against a wall.  
> Despite repeated questions from both Alex & Kara, the two of them refused to separate for even a moment, and they had soon left the DEO, presumably to find a private room.


End file.
